Pretoria

A 65-year-old woman who was raped in a ward in the Pretoria Academic hospital has died, police said on Tuesday. The woman was attacked, allegedly by a 30-year-old Mozambican national, as she slept in an otherwise empty ward on the fourth floor at 4am on Monday, police said. Two nurses on duty were doing their rounds at the time.

A Pretoria High Court judge has slated legislation that ”discriminates” between male and female child rape victims, with the rapists of boys facing far less severe sentences than those who raped girls. Jordaan described the discrimination as ”ridiculous” and said it cannot be countenanced in a constitutional dispensation such as South Africa’s.

The presiding judge in the sex-crimes trial of Pretoria advocate couple Dirk Prinsloo and Cezanne Visser urged lawyers on Monday to do everything possible to speed up the proceedings. The trial has become ”bogged down” in cross-examination, said Judge Essop Patel.

A charity golf day held at Centurion raised R280 000 towards relief of the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster in December, the Department of Health said on Monday. Sunday’s event was organised by the Association of South-East Asian Nations and heads of the diplomatic missions to South Africa.

Mamelodi Sundowns beat Bloemfontein Celtic 3-1 in an entertaining Castle Premier League clash played at Loftus on Saturday night. Sundowns created the first clear-cut attack of the game in the opening minutes when Siaka Tiene had his shot parried to safety by suspect Celtic goalkeeper Simon Gopane.

Further allegations of police incompetence arose in the Pretoria High Court sex-crimes trial of advocates Dirk Prinsloo and Cezanne Visser on Friday. Prinsloo’s advocate, Piet Coetzee, questioned senior superintendent Rudi van Olst about several aspects of the search and seizure at the couple’s Raslouw, Pretoria, home and their arrest in 2002.

A child complainant in the sex-crimes trial of Pretoria advocates Cezanne Visser and Dirk Prinsloo had confessed to attempting blackmail others in the past, the high court heard on Thursday. Prinsloo’s advocate Piet Coetzee asked investigating officer Captain Carel Cornelius whether he was aware the girl had previously laid a charge against other people.

The sex crimes trial of Pretoria advocates Cezanne Visser and Dirk Prinsloo is not to be used as a forum to discredit the police investigation, a Pretoria High Court judge warned on Wednesday. Judge Essop Patel questioned the relevance of questions put by the defence to investigating officer Captain Carel Cornelius.

Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Brigitte Mabandla formally introduced Vusi Pikoli, the newly appointed boss of the National Prosecuting Authority, to the institution’s staff on Tuesday, saying she expects the best from him. ”Advocate Pikoli, good wishes and I know you will deliver,” the minister told Pikoli.

A state witness in the sex-crimes trial of advocates Cezanne Visser and Dirk Prinsloo aroused suspicions from the defence on Tuesday when he appeared to become ”very hot”. This happened while Prinsloo’s advocate, Piet Coetzee, was cross-examining Captain Carel Cornelius in the Pretoria High Court.

The reason the sex-crimes trial of Pretoria advocates Cezanne Visser and Dirk Prinsloo is in the high court rather than the regional court is for sensation, the defence argued on Tuesday. ”The sole purpose for the trial being heard in the high court is for sensation’s sake and to make an example of the accused,” Piet Coetzee argued for Prinsloo.

The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development will respond on Tuesday to a Sunday newspaper report that claimed an administrative bungle had resulted in the arresting powers of some peace officers being wrongfully withdrawn — rendering illegal certain of their actions, such as the issuing of fines.

The Department of Public Works is compiling a shortlist of candidates to be interviewed to head the government’s R15-billion Expanded Public Works Programme. The programme’s aim is to create a million jobs over a five-year period — at least 200 000 each year. But the Democratic Alliance said it is all going too slowly.

Four South Africans are still unaccounted for following their disappearance during the Asian tsunami disaster, the Department of Foreign Affairs said in Pretoria on Friday. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sue van der Merwe said the South African government is still working closely with Interpol to trace the missing people.

National Police Day will be held annually on January 27, National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi said at the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the South African Police Service on Thursday. He said the anniversary is one of the milestones defining how far South Africa has come as a country.

Supersport United were held to a 0-0 draw by Silver Stars in a Premier Soccer League encounter at Loftus Stadium on Wednesday night. Stars threatened first through Solomon Mathe early on, but United’s Calvin Marlin reacted well to clear the danger. Marlin was tested again in the 28th minute when he stretched to full length to deny Mathe.

The role of academics and judges is not to exercise power but to be watchdogs of it, said Judge Edwin Cameron at the opening of the Unisa academic year in Pretoria on Wednesday. ”Those who do not exercise power but stand in critical oversight to it must do so with humility,” said Cameron, addressing academics, diplomats and students.

Protesting prison warders taking part in a protest march in Pretoria on Thursday were urged not to sing about Minister of Correctional Services Ngconde Balfour’s mother’s genitals or accuse him of being full of shit. ”We are marching to protest against the reduction of warders on duty in prisons over the weekends,” said a Police and Civil Rights Union spokesperson.

Mamelodi Sundowns launched a powerful second-half comeback to beat Santos 2-1 in a Castle Premier League clash at Loftus Stadium on Wednesday night. Santos opened the scoring through Reuben Cloete, who took advantage of Sundowns’ sloppy defending as early as the second minute.

The South African men’s hockey team claimed a series win over the touring English side following their 3-1 victory in the fourth and final Test at the Tshwane University of Technology on Tuesday night. Ian Symons scored first for the home side, from a penalty corner in the 27th minute.